Fish finger sandwich with tartare sauce and minted mushy peas
By Christina Higgs
Ingredients
For the tartare sauce
- 100ml good quality mayonnaise
- 1.5 tbsp capers
- 1.5 tbsp chopped gherkins
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- A squeeze of lemon juice
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
For the minted mushy peas
- 1 small potato
- 250g frozen peas
- A small handful of mint leaves
For the fish fingers
- 1-2 large, chunky cod fillets (or other chunky white fish)
- 1 tbsp flour
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
- 1 beaten egg
- 2-3 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 4 slices of crusty white bread
Method
Start by whipping up the tartare sauce. Mix together all of the ingredients, adding the lemon juice last of all and tasting to check whether more is needed. Keep the sauce in the fridge until you’re ready for it.
For the mushy peas, chop the potato into 0.5cm slices, pop it into a small saucepan, cover it in boiling water, put the pan over a high heat and put the lid on. Bring it to the boil, turn down the heat a little and leave it to simmer for a couple of minutes. Next add the peas and mint and bring the water to the boil again.
Once it’s boiling, poke the potatoes with a knife to see if they are soft. Once they’re soft, drain the peas, potato and mint through a sieve and return them to the pan. Use a hand blender to puree the mixture. If you don’t have a blender, you can mash the peas by hand but you’ll need to remove the mint, finely chop it and then return it to the pan.
On to the fish fingers. You’ll need 3 small plates. Put the flour on the first plate and mix in a little salt and pepper. Pour the beaten egg onto the second plate and the breadcrumbs onto the third plate.
Slice your cod fillets into even sized fingers. Start by dipping the fingers into the flour, tap off any excess, then coat them in egg, allow the excess to drain off and then cover them thoroughly in breadcrumbs.
In a frying pan heat the rapeseed oil over a medium heat. Add the fish fingers and cook until golden on all sides, turning regularly and adding a little more oil if necessary. For me this took around 8-10 minutes. If you’re a paranoid person like me, you might want to cut one open to check it’s cooked. If the fish is cooked it will flake easily and will no longer be translucent.
Once they are cooked, move them to a plate covered in kitchen paper, to drain the excess fat. Then assemble your marvellous sandwich and serve with the peas.
